A Day in the life of Bill
Bill woke up half hanging off his bed as usual. It didn't bother
him as long as he got a good night sleep. He crawled out of bed and
moseyed into the kitchen rubbing the sleep out of his eyes.
Not having too much time before having to go to work, Bill didn't
fix a big breakfast. He opened the cabinet and pulled out a cereal box.
He looked at the box confused. "Horsy Oats? I don't remember buying
this," he said to himself. Being the only box of cereal that hadn't
expired, he poured it in his bowl and covered it with milk. They were
quite tasty. "I'm going to have to remember to get these more often," he
said putting the empty bowl in the sink.
He got in his bathroom and started taking a shower. He loved
taking showers in the morning since he always seemed to sweat like a hog
during the night. No matter how high the air conditioner was on, he
always was sweaty when he woke up. So, morning showers it was. He was
toweling off when he got a cramp in his calf. "Great! A charley horse."
he mumbled as he massaged the cramp.
When he could stand comfortably again, he finished getting dressed
for work. He started the car and quickly drove to his office. He
couldn't wait for this Friday to be over. He and Beth were going to the
lake this weekend. They had planned this trip for weeks. After parking
the car in his reserved space, Bill opened the car door and saw something
shiny lying on the ground. He bent down and picked up a coin. It was a
buffalo nickel. "This will go great in my collection," he said putting
the coin in his pocket.
He strolled into the outer office. "Hi ya, Bill," said Jim from
his cubical.
"Hey, Jim," Bill said. "Any progress?"
"Not yet. Those nanites aren't cooperating with each other," Jim
said.
"Well, keep up the good work," Bill said and opened his office
door. He looked through the reports on his desk and went to his computer.
No important mail from anyone. "This is so boring," Bill said to himself.
"I wish I didn't have to work."
Not having anything important to do, Bill decided to take a tour
of the plant to see what progress has been accomplished. A few minutes
walking around proved there wasn't much. "Oh, well," Bill sighed and
headed back to his office. Then he noticed an elderly lady in the loading
area. There was also a forklift rolling out of place. She was walking
right in its path.
"Hey, lady!" Bill yelled, but the forklift was too loud. Bill ran
and pushed the lady out of the path of the forklift. The machine rammed
into the pallets next to them and stopped.
The woman looked at Bill and smiled. "Thank you so much. I don't
know why I didn't see that big thing," she said.
"Think nothing of it," Bill said. "But, why are you here? The
loading dock isn't safe."
"I was looking for my bracelet," she said looking around. "It
rolled in here. Oh, there it is." She got to her feet and walked over to
a shiny gold bracelet and put it on. She walked back to Bill. "Here. I
want to give you this." She dug into one of her pockets and pulled out a
gold statue of a dragon.
"No. I couldn't take it," Bill protested.
"Oh, but you will. You saved my life. Make an old lady happy and
take the dragon."
Bill took the statue. "Thank you. But I...."
"No. Thank you," the lady said and walked out of the loading dock
doors.
Bill looked back at the dragon in his hand. It was beautiful.
The creator put a lot of detail in the little statue. The eyes seemed to
be looking at Bill. He put the statue in his pocket and went back to his
office.
There was nothing to do all day. When 5:00 rolled around, Bill
didn't hesitate to get out of there. He and Beth had a lot to plan for.
They were leaving early in the morning the next day.
The drive home was just as boring as work. The traffic was almost
at a standstill. At the first chance, Bill turned off on a side road.
"It might be the long way, but it will be quicker," Bill said.
Suddenly a brown shape dashed into the road. The car bounced up
as it hit the animal. Bill slammed on the breaks and hopped out of the
car. He looked at the creature he just ran over and saw it was a rabbit.
"Poor little rabbit," Bill said and found a stick on the side of the road.
He pushed the rabbit out of the road with the stick and got back in the
car.
He finally got home. He went to his bedroom and pulled off his
work clothes and put on some everyday clothes. The dragon and coin were
sat on the dresser. In the kitchen he whipped up a quick dinner and ate
it.
After he put the dishes in the dishwasher, Bill turned on the TV
and began to make out a list of things to take to the lake. He would
alternate between watching TV and writing items down.
When the list was finished he started packing. He put some canned
food and a can opener in some grocery sacks. He packed his clothes in his
travel bag. The dragon seemed to be watching everything. The last things
on the list was to put the tent and sleeping bag in the trunk of the car.
Finishing everything else, that was what he did.
It was getting dark about that time. He pulled the tent and
sleeping bag from the garage and stuffed them in the trunk of his car.
Beth knew there were cabins by the lake, but she insisted on sleeping in a
tent. That suited Bill just fine. He liked sleeping out under the stars.
He went back in the house and closed the door. He made a second
glance out the window and then looked at his watch. "Well, I guess it's
about that time," he said and went to his bedroom.
There he undressed. Suddenly he felt it coming. Brown hair
covered his changing body. His feet elongated as did his hands. His face
pushed outward and his ears stretched and move to the top of his head.
His fingers and toes fused into cloven hooves and a huge rack of antlers
sprouted near his ears. A small tail pushed its way out at the base of
his spine. The rays of the full moon shown in the window and landed on
Bill the moose.
He swung his head around to look at the door from his bedroom and
then to his antlers in the mirror. "The only thing I don't like about
being a weremoose," Bill thought to himself, "is that I sometimes can't
fit out of the door."